


Little Scars

by Sushispider1212



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom
Genre: Body Horror, But I love them so this was inevitable, Canon-Typical Violence, Eldritch Monsters, Everyone’s a creepy monster, Fantasy AU, HLVRAI doesn’t have enough fleshed out characters for this to work without the OCs, M/M, Multi, OCs are here because plot requires them to be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:00:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27330877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sushispider1212/pseuds/Sushispider1212
Summary: Gordon Freeman hunts monsters. At least, he thinks so. He doesn’t quite remember.But after an encounter with one of the Great Beasts, he learns that maybe there’s more to the monsters he’s supposed to be fighting.Also maybe he should get his memory back. That’s important too.
Comments: 44
Kudos: 60





	1. O My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look, a thing. But it’s spooky monsters this time.

Oh god, there it was. Gordon stepped over another layer of golden webs in the cavern to get a better look at the creature.

The nest was very circular, strung between the crags, the thread so old it was only a dull shine compared to the other glimmering threads. And in the middle, its back turned to Gordon, was the Bultan.

It looked just as the local legends had described it, its body a mess of vine-like tubes that clumped together like and oversized ball of yarn. It was probably only like that on the outside, as there was no way that it was entirely made of tubes.

This fact was made abundantly clear by the fact that it had it have someplace to make the silk it was using to weave more of its nest. It had two long, spindly arms holding the thread from its spinnerets, and two arms above that clinging to the sturdy ceiling.

Well, not exactly like that. It was more like the arms were positioned like they would be if they were on the bottom of the creature, but that position was already used by the arms that were already there.

Those “arms” didn’t even have proper fingers, just huge claws that were reminiscent of scythes. The lower set of the two was gently feeding the thread to the front pair, which were likely placing the thread in the wall of the nest.

Gordon couldn’t see the creature’s head from here, but he would have to get close enough to this thing to cut it off. He held his sword at the ready, stepping forward, trying his hardest to not touch any of the clinging webs.

The Bultan moved a little in its nest, moving to a different section of the wall. It looked like the place had been torn up by giant claws or something. It must have been a storm or something, because there was no way anything around here would have the audacity to attack one of the great beasts so blatantly.

Unlike Gordon, who’s trying to kill it.

Suddenly the Bultan moved, twisting around in its nest, and Gordon dove behind a rock. He peeked out to see the Bultan working on another piece of the nest, this time one of the holes to the outside on his side.

He could see its head this time, a skull-like face easily half his height, but tiny compared to the mass of flesh that was the body. The scythes on the arms, which were just a little long than the face, were wrapped up with the golden web, gently sticking the pieces together and severing the ends with the other.

It was mesmerizing watch the Bultan work, placing the shimmering golden thread. Gordon was sure that if the sun were shining that day he would be blinded by the reflection off of the metallic web.

It seemed like forever before that section of the nest was patched up, leaving Gordon the freedom to keep walking without the fear of getting spotted. It was starting to get dark, from what he could see in the ravine. How long had it taken him to get here?

The nest was huge up close, filling the entirety of the ravine. By this size comparison, Gordon estimated that the Bultan was at least as big as a three-story house. Geez, hey weren’t kidding when they said great beasts.

The huge nest was a circular dome, but the underside was hollow, a small ledge at the bottom, and then the opening into the rest of the nest. The nest was suspended in the air, but there were a couple strands of silk trailing down.

These strands were most likely for catching prey for the Bultan to eat, but Gordon couldn’t see any telltale bundles of silk in order to be one-hundred percent sure of this. But it probably was true.

The Bultan itself was suspended in the middle of the nest in a sort of hammock? It was resting on a type of platform made entirely of silk, which had several different cords attached to the sides, leaving the Bultan to dangle its limbs off the sides. From the small twitches of the limbs and the loud sound of it breathing, Gordon guessed that it was asleep.

And with that, Gordon started climbing up the strands of silk. It was, in fact, very sticky. But they clearly weren’t meant for a creature larger than a dog to be caught in them, as Gordon very easily made his way up to the little rim on the side of the opening.

The Bultan actually looked very peaceful, surrounded by a gentle golden glow of light filtering through the nest. The Bultan’s body actually had a dull shine to it, which Gordon had only noticed up close.

He very carefully placed his hand on one of the support stands of the nest and, upon feeling its strength, carefully climbed on top of it. It swayed a little under him, but still held. The Bultan didn’t wake, at least.

Gordon carefully inched his way across, noticing the very long drop to the ground. How high up was he? No, not the time for anxious thoughts. He had a beast to slay.

Finally, he made it to the platform and noticed on crucial thing. The rope he had chosen did deposit him near the head, but he had to get off of the strand to actually take a swing at the Bultan.

There was one hitch to that plan as well, the Bultan took up the entirety of the platform, meaning Gordon would have to touch it in order to kill it. Something about that felt very wrong to Gordon, but he shook down that inner revulsion and cleanly slid off of the rope, his feet landing on of the tubes.

He quickly fell onto all fours, hugging the tube as the Bultan shifted in its sleep. Then he keeps along the body, keeping on all fours, as he made his way around it to the head.

Finally, he was there. The Bultan had barely moved, and its eyes were still closed. Gordon gently drew his sword, raising it to where the Bultan’s skull met the softer flesh of the neck.

He lifted the sword, tensing his arm as he raised it. Then he brought it down.

And a scream pierced the silence.

Gordon wasn’t sure who it had came from, because the instant his sword made contact with the Bultan his arm had spiked with pain, and he was sure he had definitely dropped it, so why did it still hurt so much?

His eyes barely registered the sight of the Bultan looking down at him. It was funny in a way, the Great Beast of the Eastern Ridges looking down at a human nobody like him. He was probably going to get eaten. That was it.

The last thing that came to Gordon’s mind as his consciousness ebbed to black was how beautiful the Bultan’s eyes were, as golden as its silk. He knew this because the Bultan was staring at him like he was a lost puppy or something.

Well, this was how he goes out. Via a Great Beast that he had dared to try to kill. There were definitely worse ways.

——-

Unfortunately, even in sleep Gordon’s mind couldn’t stop racing. It decided to go back and play the lead-up to this event, which Gordon would rather not think about.

It was very simple, really, Gordon had accepted a task from the leader of a nearby town to kill the Bultan. He had never asked why this task needed to get done, he just did it.

And look where that got him. He really was an idiot, wasn’t he.

He wasn’t even sure where he had gotten the sword from, or where he was before the town. That should have raised more red flags, but Gordon’s brain immediately switched thoughts.

If he were thinking right now, that must mean he’s alive, right? So why couldn’t he open his eyes?

Focus, there must be a way. And he did. He concentrated, and his eyes processed some dim light filtering through his eyelids.

He cracked his eyes open, only to close them upon only seeing the golden silk. He could feel it all around him, surrounding him in a cocoon. He started struggling, pushing against it with his left arm, and it gave.

It was at this point that Gordon realized that the silk wasn’t a cocoon, but more of a blanket that was wrapped around him. Upon removing that, Gordon saw the interior of the nest, the huge shining dome, glimmering with light coming through.

It must be morning now. But where was the Bultan?

Gordon jolted upright, he was on the hammock-platform. Meaning the Bultan had to have specifically placed him here.

The great beast wasn’t anywhere within sight, meaning it could be outside. Gordon didn’t think the Bultan could walk around easily off the silk, but maybe it could. It had surprised Gordon once today.

Gordon placed his hands on the silk to try to steady himself, and he noticed one key thing. He was missing his right hand.

It just wasn’t there from midway up his forearm, and the cut was even like someone had amputated it. And strangest thing was, there wasn’t a scat or anything that would indicate that the Bultan did it, like Gordon’s first thought.

It was wasn’t there.

Gordon sat back down, staring at it. That was his dominant hand. He would never be able to use his sword, of which he had no idea where it was at this current time. 

Gordon was jolted out of these thoughts by the platform moving, dipping as more weight was put on it. Gordon looked around and spotted someone else climbing up the support strings, making his way to central platform.

Gordon clutched the woven blankets with his good hand, tensing up as he watched the human walk along the string like it was a tightrope. The stranger lightly hopped on the corner of the platform, before grinning and flopping to the ground. He rolled right into the center of the platform, right next to Gordon, and stared up at the ceiling.

Then the human seemed to remember where he was, and looked over at Gordon. The man looked human enough, with a brown traveler’s cloak with fancy gold embroidery. There was one unnerving thing about the man, and it was that his eyes were a bright gold color.

The stranger looked over Gordon, his eyes lingering on his right arm, but then swiftly moving on. The stranger looked fondly at the blanket, reaching one hand toward it.

“Did—did you sleep well?” The stranger looked at Gordon with genuine concern.

Gordon wordlessly nodded. He frantically looked around. There was no way this guy had the singular power to kill or drive off the Great Beast. Who was this guy?

“Where’s the Bultan?” Gordon asked him. The stranger looked confused, looking around the nest. 

“The…Bultan…the Bultan…The Bultan!” The stranger jolted upright. “Oh, the Bultan. That’s um…how do I explain this?” The stranger pulled back the sleeve of his cloak, exposing his bare arm.

And at once, the end of the arm turned into a blade. A scythe blade. This stranger was the Bultan.

Gordon scrambled backwards, as best as he could, and the stranger turned his arm back into a human arm. “You, you can just call me Tommy!”

Gordon was too terrified to respond, scrambling back to the edge of the platform. And all at once he was falling off but then he was right back on the platform? What just happened?

Tommy hadn’t even moved. He couldn’t have caught Gordon. Then what did?

Tommy looked extremely concerned. “I-I think you need to come with me.” Tommy grabbed Gordon’s remaining hand and helped him to his feet. 

Gordon didn’t respond as he stared at the ground. He could have died. By all means he should be dead. Why wasn’t he dead?

Tommy tightly gripped Gordon’s hand as he helped him make his way down the dome and back onto the ground. 

“Come on, we should get going. Do you feel like walking?”

Gordon shook his head no. 

“Oh, alright. Hold on then.” 

Before Gordon knew what was happening, he was on the back of Tommy’s great beast form, being held down by the arms on the top, and Tommy was leaping over the canyons and ravines like they were nothing.

Huh. Guess Tommy can move around on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, a tumblr blog.  
> https://sushispider1212.tumblr.com/
> 
> I might be posting art or something on there if I feel like it. Stay tuned for that.


	2. Burning Pile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cool fantasy places? More likely than you think.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look! I made a drawing of Tommy’s beast form:
> 
> https://sushispider1212.tumblr.com/post/633825243202519040/hey-hey-look-it-its-a-thing-its-tommy-from
> 
> Look at it! I’m proud of it!

Before Gordon knew it, Tommy had slowed to a stop. He just kinda stood there for a little bit, looking at the trees, before transforming back to human form, inadvertently dropping Gordon on the ground.

Gordon quickly got up and looked around. The shadowy forest had huge, towering trees that covered the sun in an extremely high-up canopy. The worst part was that it was completely silent, just Gordon and Tommy and the trees.

There was only one place on the continent where you can find these huge trees. Geez, Tommy could move fast.

“So, we’re in the Forest of Time?” His words broke the silence, but with how quiet it was it might as well have been a literal shockwave.

Tommy nodded and started walking in a particular direction, occasionally stopping, and then starting again. While they walked, the leaf litter underneath their feet making little crunching noises, Gordon dredged up all that he knew of the Forest of Time.

From what he could recall, the Forest of Time was a huge forest in the center of the continent, with these huge trees in it. It was called the Forest of Time because some kind of god lived there? The Time God perhaps?

His memory was still spotty, but he definitely knew the danger this place posed, and the reason why no one ever knew for sure what it contained. One those reasons Gordon could see in the distance.

As they approached, it looked like a stone statue, a figure standing with their hand against the tree, as if they had been resting there and were standing up from sitting down. The vines covering the massive tree had crawled around the figure, obscuring any facial features, but one thing was clear. 

This was no statue. A human had gotten themselves frozen in the Forest of Time.

“Hey, Tommy?” Gordon paused, but continued when Tommy looked back at him. “How are we not going to get frozen by the Forest?”

Tommy looked at the frozen human, then looked back at Gordon. “Oh, that’s just my dad. He doesn’t want anyone near here who doesn’t need to be. We’ll be fine!”

Gordon silently nodded, still slightly unsure. But this was Tommy, one of the Great Beasts. He probably knows what he’s talking about. 

They kept walking, passing more frozen people from time to time, getting more frequent as they presumably got closer to the center of the woods. Finally, Tommy slowed to a stop, looking at Gordon almost suspiciously.

“My-, my dad says you have to stay here. He-he’ll let you in once we’ve talked a bit. I’m sure.” Tommy turned back around and kept walking, trusting Gordon not to follow further into the woods.

Gordon was content to just sit down under a tree and think. He seriously needed to do that.

From what he could recall, he was a monster hunter. He was sent to kill the Bultan, the Great Beast of the Eastern Ravines, also known as Tommy. He was sent by the leader of the nearby village. What was the name of the village again?

Well, that’s one hole. He couldn’t remember anything about the village beyond the fact that he spoke to the leader. Or where he had come from. Or anything at all.

Before he could start having a panic attack, one memory seemed to drift to him. A name. Joshua. His son.

That soothed his troubled mind a little. If he had a son, he was sure that Joshua would be in good hands until he returned. If he knew where to return to. And there’s the panic.

Before he could begin the anxious spiral again, he heard the crunch of footsteps and looked up to see Tommy nervously stepping toward him, glancing back from where he came. “My dad said he wants to talk to you, Mr. Freeman.”

Gordon nodded and stood up, before pausing. “How do you know my name? I never told you that.”

“Oh, um, my dad told me! He knows everything.” Gordon started to head in the direction Tommy had come from, with Tommy following behind. “Oh, and one more thing. Dad’s form can’t be perceived by mortal forms without them breaking so he’ll be meeting us in human form.”

Gordon nodded, moving forward. Finally, after another couple trees, there was a clearing with a small stone temple-looking building in it. The temple was nothing special, just a building with walls open to all four sides and a raised platform in the middle with a skylight over it.

The shadows seemed to spiral out from the platform and form into the shape of a man, standing intimidatingly on top of the platform. As the man stepped off the platform, he moved very swiftly as if he wasn’t used to moving in such a way. 

The man’s piercing blue eyes scanned Gordon, making particular note of Gordon’s missing right hand, before finally scanning his face.

“Well, Mr. Freeman.” The man even spoke weirdly, as if he wasn’t used to speaking to actual human beings. That or the guy did not know how breathing works. “I do believe we have a, problem. Let’s try something.”

What happen next Gordon didn’t know, because one moment he was standing there, and the next he was standing on top of the platform? He also had his hand wrapped around the strange man’s neck, as if he was going to strangle him.

He recoiled in an instant, stepping backwards. This was just like what happened at the nest. “What happened?” He whispered, glancing around.

Tommy was standing almost exactly in the same spot he was in before, looking significantly more shocked. However, Tommy looked back at his father with understanding. 

The man nodded, looking back at Gordon. “People call me the G-Man, or, if you would like, Mr. Coolatta. Now, I need to confer with some, associates, about you, if you will. Now Tommy, if you will, please ask Gordon about his, journey, of sorts.” The G-Man turned around, stepping into the shade on the side of the pavilion.

With a final glance at Gordon with his unsettling glowing eyes, the G-Man disappeared, leaving Tommy and Gordon alone. 

They stared at each other for a little bit, before a Gordon sighed and sat down on the side of the platform. “Tommy.” Gordon watched as Tommy sat down next to him. “Why was I strangling your father?”

“Oh, well. How do I explain this?” Tommy looked at the trees while tapping his fingernails on the platform. “You know how I said my dad’s true form can’t be perceived by mortal brains?”

“Uh, yeah. Did he turn into his true form?”

“He did. And your brain decided to choke the eldritch god?”

“I guess so. Even went on the platform for the height. So this memory thing is related to me not being able to comprehend it, correct?”

“Yeah, it does. But, well, we have another problem. If I tell you what it is, then well, um. Nevermind.” Tommy looked down to the ground, before looking up again. “Did you have a Guardian you wanted to see?”

“Um, what?”

“Oh, sorry. Great Beast. Did you have one you wanted to see? Besides me, of course.”

Gordon thought about that for a little bit. He didn’t know where he had learned this knowledge, but he went through it again. 

There were four beasts, each living in a different territory on the four side of the continent. Tommy was known as the Bultan, the beast of the Eastern Ridges. That left Vorlith of the Northern Mountains, Ignai of the Southern Desert, and Yendaens of the Western Forest.

“I’ve always wanted to see Ignai. They sounded pretty cool, being a giant cat-snake in a desert.” Gordon smiled, a wave of fondness sweeping over him for a memory he couldn’t recall. Then something nagged at him, and a memory came back at once. “My son, Joshua, wanted to see Vorlith, because he always liked goats whenever we would see them.”

Tommy nodded along, listening intently. He looked a little startled at the part where Gordon mentioned Joshua, but only commented once Gordon had finished speaking.

“Guess we h-have to get you home soon! So you can see your son soon!”

“But I don’t feel concerned at all, for some reason. Guess he’s in good hands until I come back.”

“Well, I think we should definitely see Ignai next! His actual name’s Bubby, by the way. Come on, let’s go!” Tommy stood up and held his hand out to Gordon, and they started walking out of the woods together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so anyways Tumblr:
> 
> https://sushispider1212.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’ll probably be posting art more frequently, especially of my HLVRAI AUs. And maybe you’ll learn of more AUs of mine that are in the works. Who knows?


	3. Body of Years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, I finished my Bubby design
> 
> https://sushispider1212.tumblr.com/post/634100531733970944/heres-the-next-drawing-from-my-hlvrai-scars-au
> 
> I don’t personally like the shading on it, but it’s here.

“Well, Gordon. Here’s the desert.”

“Are you joking or does it always look like this?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m half-joking. Yes, this the desert, but no, it doesn’t always look like this.”

Gordon and Tommy stood at the threshold of the desert. Well, not stood, per say. Again, Gordon was holding on to Tommy while he was in beast mode. He had crawled up a little in order to see the desert more clearly.

It was a huge place, and as deserts tend to be, covered in sand. Or it should’ve been. Instead it was covered with a thin gloss, with the sand half-melted underneath, dotted with the blackened roots of burned-away plants. It was blazing hot, more so with the sun reflecting off of the glass.

Tommy was scuttling back and forth in front of the patch of sandy land where the glass started. “I’m not sure I can safely walk across this, Mr. Freeman. I think we’ll have to do this on foot.”

“Alright then. Got nothing else to do.” Gordon climbed off of Tommy as he turned back into human form. 

They started hiking across the glass surface of the desert. It really was slippery, but it was also very uneven, as if someone had just come and heated up the surface of the sand itself.

After what seemed like hours of walking, a tall mountain appeared in the distance, with Tommy spotting it first. It was huge, stretching into the sky, almost as tall as the trees in the Forest of Time.

It had a huge crack running down the middle of it, as if gouged out by a lightning bolt, with how irregular the splits were. The blacked stone around the cracks definitely added to the effect, and a couple places had their edges smoothed out from passage over time.

As they steadily approached, they both became aware of the temperature slowly rising, the glass at their feet becoming more and more molten and goopy as they approached the mountain.

Also on the distance, some ways away from the solitary mountain, was a bright shining light, as if the sun had fallen down from the sky. The ground around here was still burning, spires of smoke rising from various parts of the ground.

Once Gordon and Tommy got to the threshold of unbearable heat, they could both see what was happening. What appeared to be a ball of fiery heat was fighting another creature, one which was enrobed in flames.

They were circling each other like cats about to fight, the ball of heat occasionally leaping into the air and swooping around for a bit before the fiery one leaped onto it, dragging it back down to the ground.

Gordon looked to Tommy to say something, but the words died in his throat at the serious expression on Tommy’s face, his eyes watching the fight, not missing anything. Gordon looked back at the fight, and he was even more confused.

“What’s happening? Are one of those Bubby?”

“Yeah, one of those are him.” Tommy pointed to the fiery one, who looked a little like a snake? And some kind of cat? “The other one is what I’m worried about.”

“Why?”

“Well, sorry for the exposition, but the real reason we came here first is because my dad said this would happen. He knows when one of the other creatures are coming near, and then we have to make sure they don’t make it past the barrier biomes.”

“Wait—barrier biomes? You called yourself a guardian earlier, what are you guarding?”

“Oh, we’re guarding the humans. It’s our job to make sure these creatures don’t kill all of them. They really are interesting to talk to. But that’s besides the point.”

“Sure all of them can’t be bad? Isn’t that stereotyping?”

“Well, most of us are actually really nice! Us guardians are creatures too! But, but, the most dangerous ones are the ones who actively wish humans harm, so we have to defend this land from them.”

“And that ball of fire is one of them?”

“Yep, it is. My guess is that Bubby has been fighting it for a while, seeing as how the glass is everywhere. I can’t even get remotely close to that one, so what to do?” Tommy started muttering things to himself, most likely calculating plans, and fidgeting with the fabric of his cloak while doing so.

Gordon watched the fight, getting a better glimpse of the ball of heat as Bubby swiped at it, sending it falling to the ground. He saw in that momentary gap in the light a glimmer of golden yellow scales, almost the same color as Tommy’s nest when all lit up.

A thought struck Gordon again upon seeing those eerily familiar scales. It was almost like he had been grabbing at smoke wisps of knowledge, and finally he caught it, the incomplete knowledge filling itself partially.

He knew the name of this creature, same as he knew the name of the guardians. He knew what this one was like, he knew he had met her before. He didn’t know where he had met, but thinking about the creature filled him with a sense of pure wonder and childish happiness.

He carefully stepped away from Tommy, moving a couple feet to the right. Tommy didn’t respond, watching the raging battle. Finally, an opening came, as the heat creature flew up from where Bubby had it pinned.

Gordon took a deep breath, before calling at the top of his lungs. 

“Sunkist!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, tumblr.
> 
> https://sushispider1212.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’ll be posting more art on there, and maybe some art of my other AUs. Or maybe rambles.  
> Feel free to ramble about this here or there, I don’t mind.


	4. Try to Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a little filler chapter, I guess. But anyways, a little plot happens.

What happened next was Gordon being knocked off of his feet by a giant dragon-dog hybrid barreling into him with all the happiness and sunshine in the world.

Sunkist, of course, had turned off her heat shield, so she wouldn’t fry him to a crisp, but she was still about eight feet tall and could uproot a tree with raw force alone. So you could guess how that went over, Gordon calling out her name and almost immediately having her on him.

At least she had the decency to make sure he didn’t fall in the glass, twisting around so her flowing ribbon tails formed a sort of cushion that Gordon could fall onto instead of breaking the glass.

From there, Gordon had Sunkist all over him, inspecting him, making sure he was all right. She paused, sniffing where his right hand would’ve been. She tilted her head in a way that posed a question.

“I don’t know either, Sunkist.” Gordon reached out and pet her behind her numerous ears. “But what are you doing here?”

Sunkist made a small little barking noise, looking Gordon dead in the eyes. Gordon shook his head. “I don’t remember much, Sunkist. But I kinda remember you? You would always help me watch Joshua after…after…” He trailed off, losing the words as the memory eluded him once again.

Sunkist nodded in understanding. She always understood.

Gordon looked back over at where Tommy still stood, talking to Bubby, who was in human form, a cloak hood covering his face. Tommy looked over at Gordon, who gave him a thumbs up, and Tommy went back to conversing with Bubby.

It was about ten minutes later when Bubby turned back into beast form and ran off to the mountain, where he presumably had his den. Tommy then waved for Gordon to follow and bounded away in beast form.

“You ready to go?” Sunkist nodded and laid down on the ground, allowing Gordon to climb on and grab hold of her fur, before she took off. She didn’t go as fast as she could’ve, just enough to keep up with Tommy, keeping note of the fact that Gordon couldn’t hold on as well as he could’ve.

——-

“So, do you mind explaining why exactly my desert was attacked by a sun dog?”

Bubby took a sip of his tea, looking at Tommy and Gordon, with Sunkist sitting in between them in dog form, which was only as tall as the average human. 

Tommy glanced at Gordon, who only stared into the overly steeped tea. It was still piping hot, but it was also extremely bitter. Two not good things for tea to have combined.

Tommy looked fine with it at first glance, taking tentative sips, but Gordon noticed how his fingers tightened their grip on the cup. Bubby, of course, was fine with it. He just drank it like it wasn’t burning everyone else’s tongues.

They sat there in silence for a bit, before Gordon spoke up. “I think she was looking for me. I think, at least.”

Bubby took a long, exaggerated sip of his tea while looking Gordon dead in the eyes. He lowered the cup, the steam having started to fog up his glasses. “That doesn’t explain shit.”

Before either of them could reply, Bubby continued on. “That being said, it’s getting late.” Bubby pointedly looked at the crack in the stone ceiling that doubled as a makeshift clock. “We all need sleep from whatever the hell just happened, especially me. I was fighting Sunkist all day. Goodnight.”

And with that, Bubby stood up, chugged the rest of his tea, and walked away into one of the side corridors, placing the cup down on a nearby ledge as he did so.

Gordon and Tommy looked at each other for a moment. 

“Uh, so-“

“Did you want to-“

The both spoke at the same time, politely stopping to let the other one talk. Sunkist huffed and stood up, walking away down the other corridor. That brought up the concern that both of them had. There was only one spare room.

Gordon held up his hand, and Tommy nodded, getting the message and letting Gordon speak first. “So I guess we share a room?”

Tommy nodded. “I, um, as long as you’re okay with it, I think, I uh, I might have…” Tommy trailed off to gather his thoughts. “I might have left some blankets here from the last time I was here, we could use those.”

Gordon nodded and stood up, heading down the tunnel Sunkist had disappeared into.

——-

It was quiet in the house. That’s why there was someone sitting outside in the garden, listening to the summer cicadas.

She had closed her eyes a while ago, enjoying the peace of the moment when compared to all the stress the days prior had brought. It felt like this was the first moment she could really catch her breath.

She opened her eyes again, looking back when the sound of the creaky door reached her ears. She didn’t say a word as one of her partners wordlessly sat down next to her, clearly anxious about something.

Finally, xe spoke. “When was Sunkist supposed to get back by?”

She looked at xem, taking in xyr tired eyes and the constant motion of rubbing xyr fingers against xyr clothes. “Not too long, I’d guess. That is, if she did find him. If she doesn’t return by tomorrow, I think we might need to head out there ourselves.”

“Will…will you be staying behind? I just, we need someone to watch, you know.” Xey looked extremely flustered in that moment. She leaned a little closer to xem and waited while xe formulated xyr thoughts. “I just, I just want to watch Joshua while you go.”

She chuckled a little, wrapping one arm around xem in a little half-hug. “I mean, I probably will go if you want to stay. I think I’m the only reason Crane would even stick with the group. If it were up to her, she’d just fly in and immediately get taken down by whatever Beast’s on duty.”

“Which one are you going to try to get past?”

“Yendaens. The forest should be thick enough to get through without being caught. Besides, if we get stuck both Crane and Placate can fly. And besides, not even a guardian would want to go up against me in the water!”

“I thought you would try Bultan, you know, because of all the ridges. But I suppose Yendaens is closest. But then again, they do say that Bultan is very good with his webs. And they also say he can jump like a flea. I wouldn’t be very eager to go up against that. Besides, we told Sunkist to go across the desert because she would have the best chance against Ignai if it came to blows. And we do not have the raw power to go up against Vorlith. Huh.”

Xe paused xyr anxious ramble. Xe looked at xyr partner. “Red, I’m scared. I don’t know if we can even find Gordon. It just seems so implausible that he’d be in the one place that we can’t get to!”

“Well, if Sunkist comes back with him, then we won’t have to. But there’s nothing else we can do. We can’t just not try to find him. You of all people should know what it’s like to grow up without parents.”

“I know. That’s why I’m scared.”

“Well. Let’s just sit here. Hear the cicadas? It’ll be a long time before you hear them out in force like this. So let’s enjoy it.”

They sat there for a long time, waiting for the lovely sun dog to return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think, feedback is always good:
> 
> https://sushispider1212.tumblr.com/
> 
> Feel free to ask questions on Tumblr, or you could ramble about things here.  
> I just need some feedback. Theories are cool too.


End file.
